By Reina Akamatsu

On Tuesday September 25th, MISC launched a new event, the MISC student social, to provide a space for the USC student community to gather and talk about impactful popular media. The inaugural event, held at a pizza restaurant near campus, focused on discussing “Crazy Rich Asians,” directed by USC alumnus Jon Chu. The film came out in August 2018 and is one of the year’s most talked about films.

Not only does the film feature an all Asian cast, Hollywood’s first since the “Joy Luck Club” in 1993, the film was highly successful. It made 207 million dollars worldwide, which makes the film the most successful Hollywood romantic comedy in about a decade. Students from USC’s undergraduate and graduate schools, representing a variety of majors, came to the social to share their thoughts. The conversation started with discussion on how people define media for social change and then expanded on their reaction to the film. Some students developed their conversation around the racism in different countries around the world and how we can eliminate it.

Some exchanged thoughts on miscegenation, the relationship between Asian Americans and Asians from other countries, and about how to best represent the perspectives of Asians living in the United States in media. In a relaxed atmosphere, students enjoyed meeting new people, socializing, and exchanging their ideas, and some passionately expressed the hope that there would continue to be diverse representation in the film industry. USC MISC plans to have other socials so students can continue to meet and discuss other impactful popular media.

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